Ripple Weighed Shutdown Amid SEC Lawsuit Before Fighting to Keep XRP Operations Alive

Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that the company considered shutting down due to the SEC lawsuit in 2020. However, they chose to fight and ultimately prevailed when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security.

Garlinghouse stated that winding down the company would have resulted in hundreds of job losses and reshaped its future in crypto markets. Instead, Ripple spent $150 million on legal fees during the four-year battle.

The decision to contest the case was influenced by meetings with SEC officials between 2017 and 2019, where Garlinghouse claims he was never told XRP might be treated as a security.